Today’s 29th Congress of the SDSM has been suspended after the management of the municipal organizations requested additional time to prepare reports on the parliamentary and presidential elections. They indicated that the Congress will resume after the municipal organizations have provided their opinions on the Report on the presidential and parliamentary elections, with the new date to be determined later.

Due to the extensive material in the Report, which includes political, operational, and analytical parts, the SDSM municipal organizations requested time to analyze it, make decisions, and contribute at the level of municipal election headquarters and municipal organizations to the final version of the Report on the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections 2024. The proposal was supported by the majority of the delegates present, leading to the decision to suspend the Congress, allowing time for the municipal organizations to analyze the Report, express their opinions, and contribute to the final version with remarks, suggestions, and conclusions, as stated in the announcement from SDSM. The current president of SDSM, Dimitar Kovachevski, emphasized before the beginning that he expects today’s Congress to be successful, and as he said, SDSM will emerge stronger, more united, and proceed with finalizing the election of a new president and new leadership.

In response to a journalist’s question about whether he expects direct attacks from party members regarding the party’s leadership and the electoral defeat, Kovachevski stressed that he anticipates an open debate on all issues that affected the election results.

The former vice-president of SDSM, Fatmir Bitiqi, believes that today’s Congress is a turning point for the party.

“What every democratic party should do after the elections is to openly discuss the election results, all situations before the elections, and how to proceed in the future, especially since we do not anticipate a period of internal party conflict. I consider it a turning point for the party and that’s why today is very important for me,” said Bitiqi.

The former president of the party, Dimitar Kovachevski, after the electoral defeat, officially confirmed his resignation from the post of president of SDSM during a session of the party’s Executive Board held on May 22, and requested the convening of a congress and the organization of internal party elections.